If You Want To Leave

Gnu and I are now eighteen days into the school year and that leaves one hundred and sixty-two days to go.  I'm checking my brain archives to see if I can recall ever starting the count down to the end of the school year after only eighteen days.  There is a reason for the count down to begin but I'll save it until later.

I have one more last school year versus this school year comparison for you.  Last school year, when the scholars walked through the cafeteria for breakfast, they had a choice of either a hot entre or a cold entre.  They also had a fruit available, EM always remembered to bring me a banana from the cafeteria, a juice, and a milk choice.  If my memory is correct, there were four different milk choices.  This school year, after eighteen days, our scholars have yet to be served a hot entre for breakfast.  In fact, after eighteen days, they have not even had the chance to eat a bowl of cereal.  So what do they serve for breakfast this year.  Below is the breakfast menu from last week.  Keep in mind, this breakfast is for all of the scholars in the building, high school down to first grade.

Monday - Pop Tart (32g Sugar) and a Low Fat Chocolate Milk (18g Sugar)

Tuesday - Pop Tart and a Low Fat Chocolate Milk.

Wednesday - Chocolate with Chocolate Chips Muffin (22g Sugar), Cheese Stick, Low Fat Chocolate Milk.

Thursday - Pop Tart, Apple Sauce, Low Fat Chocolate Milk

Friday - Nutrition Bar (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie), Juice (Orange, Apple, Grape), Low Fat Chocolate Milk.

Just in case you didn't do the math, the Pop Tart and Low Fat Milk total 50g Sugar.  I believe the daily allowance for sugar for the scholars in our classroom is 12g. 

In last weeks blog post I introduced Merlot, behavior specialist, and talked about the game plan that she put together for Cube to keep him on task so that he is not constantly drawing dinosaurs on any piece of paper he can find.  What she created was pretty simple but is an excellent visual aid for Cube to look at to see if he will earn recess time and free time at the end of the day.  And, as you all know, recess and free time is like striking gold for these scholars.  Merlot started with a standard 8x11 piece of copy paper and placed our academic schedule on it.  She then laminated the paper to make it difficult to tear into pieces.  After each lesson period for the day she glued a piece Velcro next to it.  She then created one inch square check marks that were also laminated and then glued Velcro on the back of the check mark.  These check marks were then placed on the back of the classroom schedule and held in place with Velcro.  Every time Cube successfully completed an assignment he was allowed to take a check mark from the back of the paper and place it next to the assignment he completed.  If the assignment was not completed, no check mark and no recess.  Although not the perfect solution, this simple check mark system Merlot created has Cube completing more assignments on time now than at any earlier time in the school year.

Speaking of recess, let me tell you how Cube and Thumb spend their recess time.  It's simple, they mock each other, taunt each other, bait each other, until one of them gets mad.  The first one that gets mad starts chasing the other one around the playground area until an adult puts a stop to this nonsense.  When tired of chasing each other around the playground area, one, or both of them, will start in with the older scholars that are outside at recess.  So far, the older scholars have chosen to just walk away from them.  Unfortunately, once they start walking away their antagonist started to follow them.  To avoid getting in trouble the older scholar will start to run.  Naturally, our scholar started to run after them.  Eventually, the older scholar will run up to an adult and ask the adult to please tell Cube or Thumb to stop bothering them.

This recess cycle is almost a daily routine and the teachers have decided to stay idle to see what actually will happen the next time Cube or Thumb start their antagonizing game.  Unfortunately, the teachers did not tell me that they shifted to a stay idle mode.  It was at recess on Friday that Thumb started in on one of the older girls and I started moving towards them.  So you know, this older girl is one of the more physically aggressive students that is outside at recess.  As I approached Thumb, he started pushing this girl and I quickly step in between them and pointed Thumb in another direct.  While doing so, I hear Gnu say, "Schultz,  I've got this.  Let Thumb go."   I looked over at Gnu and thought to myself, you've got this, you didn't even bother to stand up.  It was then that I realized what was going on and stepped away and just observed.  Sure enough, Thumb was back at his antagonizing game, the adults chose to do nothing and the girl responded to the taunt by pushing Thumb away from her.  Thumb's immediately reaction, "she pushed me," and ran toward Gnu crying.  Gnu looked down at Thumb and said, "if you don't want to get pushed, then stay away from her."  In less that sixty seconds, Thumb was again moving toward his target.  Fortunately for us, recess was over and it was time to go back inside.

The staying idle game is interesting but makes me a little nervous as there are scholars outside during our recess that are a lot bigger than our scholars.  While I know it's necessary for Cube or Thumb to know that the consequences for their antagonizing behavior may be to get hit, at some point they need to see that their actions may get a reaction that they didn't expect.  So, the next time we are out at recess, I'll stay idle to see what happens but at the same time, I won't be very far away.

Oppositional Defiant Order (ODD) story number one.  Cube is at his desk doing his morning work.  Merlot is nearby observing.  Cube shouts out, "this is too hard, I don't know what to do, will somebody help me."  Merlot responds, "if you want some help you need to raise your hand and ask politely for help."  "It's too hard," Cube responds.  "What's too hard," Merlot replies.  "It's too hard to raise my hand," Cube yells.  "If you don't raise your hand and ask politely you will not get any help," Merlot tells him.  Getting angry, Cube yells, "can't you see, it's too hard to raise my hand."  Merlot then sets the hook, "if you don't raise you hand and ask politely for help you will not get you work done.  If you don't get your work done you don't get your check mark.  If you don't get a check mark, you don't go outside for recess."  Miracle of miracles, Cube's hand is suddenly rid of it's affliction, it goes up in the air, and he politely asks Merlot for help.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) story number two.  DQ is at her desk doing her morning work when she turns to me and says, "how do you spell flower?"  I pick up my Post It note pad and write down the word flower and try to hand her the note.  "I said to spell the word flower, I didn't tell you to write the word down.  "Now," getting quite animated she says, "spell the word flower."  I take the Post It note, reach toward her and stick it where she can see it.  DQ then turns to me, raises her hands up into the air like a cat baring its claws and then hisses at me like an cat that is trapped and angry.  She got no reaction from me as I stood up and walked away from her to help someone else.  Hopefully, during the school year, DQ will realize that her hissing cat routine, which I've seen several times, will get her nothing.  Nothing from me and most definitely nothing from Gnu. 

Gnu mentioned to me one day last week that my name came up when talking about the high school scholars in our building. Apparently, the powers that be think I'd be an excellent person to fill the open instructional assistant position that supports the high school teacher.  I told Gnu that the high school teacher brought the matter up with me earlier and that I told the high school teacher that I be glad to try and help.  I also told the high school teacher that I'm here for one reason and one reason only and it is to work with Gnu.  When I finished talking Gnu said something to me that took me by surprise.  Paraphrasing, "if you want to leave and work with the high school kids or if you just want to leave I'm okay with you leaving.  I talked you into returning to work with me and all I've done is put you in this disaster of a classroom."  Caught off guard, I hesitated and then said this, "I'm here to work with you.  We are both very frustrated working with this group of scholars but I'm not going anywhere.  We are a team and we'll work it out just like we did all of those previous years, end of conversation."

There you have it.  Eighteen days into the school year and these five scholars, four with an ODD label, are pushing us to our limits.  It's frustrating, challenging and it's about to get worse.  We are supposed to get a new scholar on Monday.  This new scholar is presently only going to school for one hour a day and for that one hour this scholar is confined to a seclusion room because of his behavior.  This scholars arrives on Monday and we have a seclusion room but it doesn't have a door.  It's about to get interesting.  With that said, I'm out of here.